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Every week during the season NFL Network and NFL.com Senior Fantasy Analyst Michael Fabiano joins Sports360AZ.com’s Brad Cesmat to share his insight on building and developing your fantasy team for success.
Here are some hi-lights from our most recent conversation (December 2nd) with the Fantasy Sports Writer’s Association Hall of Famer.
If I’m looking to stream a defense this week who would you suggest I explore? “I’m streaming this week the Bears, the Redskins. Tennessee has a good match up. If someone dropped the Bengals’ defense, that’s probably the number one defense to get against Cleveland who is starting Austin Davis and not Johnny Manziel.”
Is it safe to say Cardinals’ running back David Johnson is the hottest name on the waiver wire? “Yep. No question about it it’s definitely David Johnson. Running backs are hard to find. I’m in eight leagues and he’s a free-agent in three. He really hasn’t done anything at all but people are holding out on running backs who might end up getting touches…he’s a startable RB2 this week because St. Louis really hasn’t been that great against running backs the last four weeks or so. Johnson is a guy you’re picking up and probably plugging right in.”
Who is another under-the-radar waiver wire option worth pursuing? “Shaun Draughan. I’ll keep bringing him up. He’s scored double digits in PPR leagues every single week. because he’s getting 20 touches a game. He was picked up off the street a month ago and I’ve started him every single week in PPR leagues and he’s done pretty well. It’s all about volume…you can’t have the luxury of playing the match ups at running back right now unless you’re in a really small league because the position has been so thinned out by injuries.”
Who are some starts/sits at quarterback in Week 13? “As long as Ben Roethlisberger is on the field he should be in your fantasy lineup against the Colts. He has 32 touchdowns in his last 10 games at the “Big Ketchup Bottle.” Marcus Mariota is another guy you can pick up off the waiver wire, Brad. He’s got a good match up against Jacksonville. I like Jay Cutler this week. Andy Dalton, as well. Quarterbacks with bad match ups. I would sit Matt Ryan this week. Russell Wilson has been awesome the last two weeks so it’s hard to bench him. Just keep in mind the Vikings have given up an average of fewer than 14 points to quarterbacks this year. Philip Rivers bad trend at home against Denver in his career.”
How about at running back? “There are basically a lot of plays out there that you’re going with volume, right? Darren McFadden, the match up isn’t necessarily great, but he could see and likely will see a high volume of touches in that game so you play him against the Redskins on Monday night. Another player who is going to see volume but may not be the biggest name I mentioned him already, Shaun Draughan. Jonathan Stewart has a really good match up this week. I would have more faith in Matt Forte against the Niners this week. I’d play both Broncos running backs. LaGarrette Blount has a good match up. Running backs to avoid this week: Latavius Murray. He has been a disappointment lately and Kansas City’s defense is still pretty tough against the run. Now, Eddie Lacy’s been hot, you have to play him. Keep in mind that Detroit has given up the second-fewest points to running backs since Week 9.”
Who’s catching your attention at wide receiver this weekend? “Start Alshon Jeffery, Jarvis Landry, Martavis Bryant, T.Y. Hilton. Michael Crabtree is a good play this week against Kansas City. Their defense agains wide receivers overall has not been great and we saw that last week with Sammy Watkins. I’m sitting Brandin Cooks because there’s a chance Josh Norman is going to be covering him and that scares the bee-jesus out of me. Mike Evans against Atlanta: they’ve given up the second-fewest fantasy points to wide receivers in the whole league. Stevie Johnson has a bad match up. So does Stefon Diggs.If you think Jordan Matthews is going to turn things around because he had a good game last week…I would disagree.”
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Eric Sorenson
A Valley native, Eric has had a passion for the Arizona sports scene since an early age. He has covered some of the biggest events including Super Bowls, national championships and the NBA and MLB playoffs in his near 20 years in local media.